This invention relates to a condom, and more specifically, to a condom which can be fitted without the fingers touching the penis or the condom body, to a condom which is easy to fit and air does not enter when the condom is to be fitted, and to a condom wherein air does not enter or remain in a sperm retention part or the vicinity of the glans part.
According to the prior art, condoms are fitted by breaking the seal of a package, removing the condom body and fitting it on the penis with the fingers, but as the fingers touch the penis and the condom body when it is fitted, there is a problem as to hygiene and whether the condom fits satisfactorily, and if any lubricating oil or powder is used, it adheres to the fingers and must therefore be wiped off. Further, as air enters the condom body, the air must be expelled when it is fitted, which was a nuisance.
A method has been proposed wherein the condom body is provided with a fitting tape having grip parts which is rolled up together with the condom, and when the condom is to be fitted, these grip parts are pulled, e.g., as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Hei 2-33765, Japanese Patents Laid-Open Hei 8-56978 and Japanese Utility and Design Patent 3029333. However, the condom body cannot be fitted without removing from its package, so it must again be touched with the fingers.
In another type of condom fitted without removing it from its package with the fingers, and without touching the penis or condom body with the fingers while it is still in its package, a fitting tape is rolled up together with the condom, an extension part is formed beyond this rolled part, and the tip of this part is sealed to the rim of the package, as disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Sho 63-195823, Japanese Patent Publication Hei 3-505173, Japanese Patent Publication Hei 10-510452 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Hei 11-19110.
However, although these proposals (creative ideas) describe how to fit the condom without touching it with the fingers, it is difficult in practice to fit the condom without touching it. Further, there are a large number of parts and steps involved, the construction is complex and manufacture is difficult. Stability and reliability of steps could not be expected, no consideration was given to maintaining the length of the extension part formed at the tip of the rolled part at a predetermined length, and the condom body unrolled when the package was opened. Due to these manufacturing problems, the product was not commercialized.
If the extension part is short, the fitting tape is pulled and the rolled part is also pulled out when the package is opened, so the condom body is unrolled too much, and if it is fitted in this state, air remains in the glans part. On the other hand, if the extension part is long, although the condom body does not unroll too much when the package is opened, the fitting tape is pulled out too long after opening the package, and the condom body droops down when it is fitted. Hence, it was not easy to fix it on the glans, the fitting stroke was too long, and the user""s thigh and hand interfered with each other which made fitting difficult.
The problem common to all these ideas was that, as the tip of the extension part and the rim of the package were sealed simultaneously, the expected length of the extension part easily tended to increase or decrease. Due to the construction of the product, in the steps leading to the final step of the packaging, this could not be resolved and manufacture of the condom was therefore difficult. Moreover in these proposals, no consideration whatever was given to maintaining the length of the extension part within a predetermined range, or to means to achieving that end.
In these condom bodies, there is a sperm retention area in the glans part. Air entered the sperm retention area when the package was opened or the condom was fitted, and remained after the condom was fitted.
There have been proposals for designs which expel the air in the sperm retention part, but in practice, there was still a risk that air would enter when the condom was fitted.
As there is a sperm retention area in the glans part, a considerable amount of air is trapped when the package is opened and the condom body is fitted, and it was difficult to expel this air completely. Due to this accumulation of air, the rubber film of the condom body does not fit closely around the glans, various fatal problems tended to occur such as loss of sexual sensation, a tendency to rupture of the condom body or the condom body easily falling off the penis. To expel the retained air, it was necessary to touch the condom body or the penis with the fingers which gave rise to the above problems or difficulties of usage.
To open the package, it must be split into two equal parts, and as it is generally difficult to split it precisely into two parts, the idea was conceived of providing a seam approximately in the center of the front and rear surfaces. However, it is difficult to make the starting and finishing points of the seam coincide precisely on both the front and rear surfaces during packaging and sealing.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a condom wherein an extension part of predetermined length is provided in a fitting tape which is rolled up together with the condom body, i.e., beyond the rolled part. The tip of the extension part is fixed to a predetermined position of the packaging before the package rim is sealed in one piece so that its length does not fluctuate in the packaging step. The package material of the rim of the condom body is then sealed. The condom body can suitably be fixed on the glans without directly touching the penis or condom body, and without unrolling the condom body more than necessary when the package is opened. Hence the condom can be fitted without touching, and furthermore, air does not enter between the glans and the condom when the condom is fitted.
According to this invention, when the condom body is rolled up, a pair of fitting tapes are laterally disposed to the left and right of the condom body. One end of these fitting tapes is disposed in the vicinity of the opening of the condom, the tapes are rolled up together with the condom body along its opposite lateral surfaces, and extension parts are respectively provided in the vicinity of the glans beyond the rolled part of the fitting tapes. After the tips of the extension parts are sealed in one piece with the inner surface of one of the upper package material and lower package material of the package, the other package material is placed over the condom body, and the rims of the package materials are sealed at positions slightly removed from the rim of the condom so as to enclose the condom body. In this way, the extension parts can be maintained at a predetermined length in a step wherein the rolled condom body is made into a sandwich shape by the upper and lower package materials, or in an immediately following step wherein the rim of the condom body is thermocompression bonded.
The seal part between the extension part of the fitting tape and the upper package material is set at about ⅔ of the radius from approximately the outer circumference of the condom body towards the center of the condom. Hence, the length of the extension part is rationally determined within the optimum range from the viewpoint of manufacturing technique, and can be set to the most preferable length.
This resolves the defects inherent in having the extension part of the fitting tape too short, and the disadvantages and difficulties involved in having the extension part too long. As a result, the condom can be suitably fixed on the glans without directly touching the penis or the condom body with the fingers, i.e., a xe2x80x9cno touchxe2x80x9d fitting is possible.
It is preferred that the glans part of the condom body is fashioned in the shape of a close-cropped monk""s head. As there is no sperm retention area in the glans part, there is no risk that air will enter the condom body when it is fitted, and no concern that air will remain. Therefore, the condom is free from the aforesaid problems and disadvantages associated with entry of air.
According to this invention, before sealing the tip of the fitting tape to the package rim in one piece, the extension part is sealed to the upper package material or lower package material of the package. Hence, the extension part need not be eliminated, the shape of the extension part can be maintained, and it can be firmly sealed to the package rim without the tip (excess length) of the fitting tape biting. This also prevents rolling back of excess condom body due to temporary interruptions in pulling the fitting tape, or to sudden pulling under a load.
According to this invention, a notch for opening the package is provided substantially in the center of the upper end, and plural rows of tear lines are provided in the package opening direction substantially in the center of the upper package material or lower package material, or in both, along the notch. As a result, the roughness of the package rim disappears, opening the package is easier, and as tear lines coincide with other parallel tear lines, even if the positioning of a tear line is slightly to the left or right of the predetermined position in the package forming step, smooth opening of the package is enhanced.